CLEAR Act

Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act or the CLEAR Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought a congressional earmark, or from any senior executive of such an entity, or any lobbyist for whom the entity was a client.

Prohibits the acceptance of any contribution from a separate segregated fund established and administered by a corporation or labor organization if the Member sought a congressional earmark for the corporation.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2038 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2038

   To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an 
 authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from 
accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought 
                        a Congressional earmark.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 2009

Mr. Hodes (for himself, Ms. Giffords, and Mr. Perriello) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an 
 authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from 
accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought 
                        a Congressional earmark.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Law for Earmark Accountability 
Reform Act'' or the ``CLEAR Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING CANDIDATES FROM ACCEPTING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 
              ENTITIES FOR WHICH CANDIDATES SEEK CONGRESSIONAL 
              EARMARKS.

    (a) Prohibiting Acceptance of Contributions.--Section 315 of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(k) Prohibiting Acceptance of Contributions From Entities for 
Which Candidates Seek Congressional Earmarks.--
            ``(1) In general.--An authorized committee of a candidate 
        for election for Federal office who is a Member of Congress 
        (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) 
        may not accept any contribution--
                    ``(A) from any entity for which the Member sought a 
                Congressional earmark during the election cycle, or 
                from any senior executive of such an entity or any 
                person who is registered as a lobbyist under the 
                Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
                for whom the entity was a client for purposes of such 
                Act; or
                    ``(B) if the Member sought a Congressional earmark 
                for a corporation during the election cycle, from a 
                separate segregated fund established and administered 
                by the corporation or labor organization under section 
                316(b)(2)(C).
            ``(2) Congressional earmark defined.--In this subsection, 
        the term `Congressional earmark' means a provision or report 
        language which--
                    ``(A) is included in a bill or joint resolution, a 
                committee report to accompany a bill or joint 
                resolution, or a conference report to accompany a bill 
                or joint resolution (including a joint explanatory 
                statement prepared by the managers of the conference) 
                primarily at the request of a Member of Congress; and
                    ``(B) provides, authorizes, or recommends a 
                specific amount of discretionary budget authority, 
                credit authority, or other spending authority for a 
                contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, 
                or other expenditure with or to an entity, other than 
                through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or 
                competitive award process.
            ``(3) Election cycle defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        `election cycle' has the meaning given such term in section 
        301(25), without regard to the second sentence of such section.
            ``(4) Senior executive defined.--In this subsection, the 
        term `senior executive' means, with respect to an entity, the 
        President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, or 
        Chief Financial Officer of the entity.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to contributions made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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